From Garibaldi and the thermae to the Italian National Rehabilitation Plan: a representation of the evolution of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine specialty.

recognition of the Italian role in the EJPRM, came about by chance, through the submission of one paper especially written for the Anniversary celebrations,5 and through the decision to publish a very important document, now a law in Italy, as required by many colleagues working in Europe and elsewhere: the Italian National Rehabilitation Plan.6 Between Giuseppe Garibaldi, the central character of the historical account reported in the first paper, who already received the advantage of rehabilitation thermal care, and the National Rehabilitation Plan, the progress of PRM in Italy was also seen in the 1998 Guidelines on Rehabilitation, which the EJPRM published in 2005.7 In a way, Italy well represents the evolution of PRM in Europe and the world. Nearly 3000 physiatrists deliver PRM services in Italy, with a provider-touser ratio of almost 1 per 20000 population.8-10 Here, PRM specialists apply the ICF “vision” 11, 12 across the entire range of PRM and disability care: inpatient prevention during the acute phase of disease, inpatient subacute or long-term care, outpatient approaches, as well as community-based promotion, including prevention and maintenance of residual functioning.13-15 Physiatrists in Italy are engaged in 1Director, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy 2Don Gnocchi Foundation, Italy 3San Pancrazio Rehabiliation Hospital Arco di Trento, Trento, Italy 4Director, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy S. NEGRINI 1, 2, A. GIUSTINI 3, V. SARACENI 4